Gennady Golovkin stopped short of admitting he has allowed opponents to hit him, the idea being others would rush to fight him because of his perceived vulnerability.

“No,” the much-avoided middleweight champion of the world said Wednesday at the Conga Room at L.A. Live. Golovkin smiled. Promoter Tom Loeffler and trainer Abel Sanchez laughed knowingly.

Kell Brook was one who put a bit of leather on Golovkin in September before Golovkin stopped Brook in the fifth round in Brook’s native England. Brook moved up from welterweight, so Golovkin knew Brook couldn’t do any damage.

Three fights before that, in May 2015, Golovkin encouraged Willie Monroe Jr. to hit him during their fight at The Forum. Again, Monroe was no threat and was stopped in the sixth.

David Lemieux, on the other hand, entered his October 2015 fight against Golovkin with a record of 34-2 and with 31 knockouts, meaning he can crack. Golovkin showed every part of his arsenal in that one, including solid defense while remaining ferocious.

“You didn’t see him allow David Lemieux to hit him unnecessarily,” Loeffler said, referring to Golovkin’s eighth-round TKO of Lemieux at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where Golovkin will tangle with Daniel Jacobs on March 18 (on HBO pay-per-view).

The result, Loeffler said, was that Lemieux “basically couldn’t land a punch on him.”

Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) figures to bring that same mindset into his bout with Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs), whose knockout ratio of 88 percent is nearly as impressive as Golovkin’s 92 percent.

He should, anyway. But Sanchez has a fantastic dream.

“He’s got such confidence in his ability and what we do in the gym and what he’s done in the past that once he feels that power, he knows what he can take and can’t take,” Sanchez said of Golovkin. “But if you noticed, when he was allowing people to hit him, they’re not hitting him in the chin, they’re hitting him on the forehead. He catches them on the forehead.

“I mean, 250, 300 amateur fights, smart individual in the ring. He knows what he can and can’t do. But wouldn’t it be something if he allowed Jacobs to do that, and he still knocked Jacobs out?”

That’s how much confidence Sanchez has in Golovkin.

Speaking of knockouts, Golovkin has 23 in a row. Although Sanchez swears Golovkin isn’t looking for the knockout, that he just wants to get as much as he can out of every round, Golovkin grinned big when asked about the streak and what it means to him.

“I think that both guys are going to get hit, that Danny will land his shots because Danny’s a very good fighter,” Sanchez said. “But I think Gennady puts him down sometime in the second or third round and then wears him down by the sixth or seventh and it’s about an eight-round fight.”

The pay-per-view feed is $54.95.

Canelo-Chavez Jr. done deal

Canelo Alvarez wouldn’t tangle with Golovkin this past September, instead relinquishing his middleweight belt to move down to junior middleweight. But Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) on Friday agreed to a May 6 fight against fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. that will take place at a catch-weight of 164 1/2 pounds, 4 1/2 over the middleweight limit.

A venue has not yet been decided upon, but T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is a possibility.

Alvarez is stoked that this came to fruition.

“I’m excited to announce my fight against Julio César Chávez Jr. and confirm that I will be prepared, like I’ve been throughout my career, to give a great fight,” he said. “I want to remind you that when two Mexican fighters face-off, a spectacular show is guaranteed.”

This fight figures to do very well on pay-per-view. To Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs), it’s nothing but a terrific opportunity.

“I’m going to win, but my country will win, too, because this is the fight that boxing needs,” he said.

Golden Boy Promotions chairman Oscar De La Hoya, who will promote the fight, is of the same mind.

“Boxing has been searching for a fight to draw the casual fan back to our sport and Canelo versus Chavez Jr. is just that fight,” he said. “Canelo, the biggest star boxing, will take on not only a former world champion in Julio César Chávez, Jr., but the son of the biggest star in the history of boxing in Mexico.”

ETC

James DeGale (23-1, 14 KOs) of England and Badou Jack (20-1-2, 12 KOs) of Sweden on Saturday night will square off in a super middleweight title-unification bout from Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on Showtime). … Promoter Bob Arum still has to get Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) to sign off on his proposed April 22 welterweight title defense against Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs), which could take place in Horn’s native Australia.

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